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One of the oldest Houses in Lebanon
is given new life with a bright future.
By Jack Degange
Photographs by Steve Usle
The
two-story colonial on riverside drive sits on a lot
that reaches to the Mascoma River about 200 yards
upstream from the Packard Covered Bridge. Built in
the 1830s, it is now one of the oldest houses in
Lebanon. Before Ed Kerrigan and Roger Clarkson
bought it as an investment in 2004, it looked every
bit its age. The exterior was run down to say the
least, and except for three shallow fireplaces,
there was no heating system-- nor was there any
plumbing or electricity. For years, raccoons and
squirrels had nested and burrowed throughout the
addition's second floor.
This "demolition by amateurs," as Kerrigan and
Clarkson called it, along with the wear and tear of
time, had caused significant damage to the house as
well as the barn and garage.
The investors turned to a friend for advice. "We had
a lot of Saturday morning breakfasts with Larry
Ufford (the president of Trumbull-Nelson)," said
Clarkson. "And it was Larry who saw the potential of
exposing the old chestnut beams and turning the
second floor of the addition into a 22-by-18 foot
master bedroom suite (enlarged with construction of
a shed dormer).
"Larry's imagination made all the difference,"
Clarkson continued. "He got into the project to the
point that I'm convinced he thought he slept in the
house in an earlier life, back in the days when,
we're told, it was an inn."
"We approached the project on a time and materials
basis," said Ufford. "Ed was his own project manager
and handled all the subcontractors."
After Trumbull-Nelson crews gutted about 10
dumpsters worth of debris that couldn't be salvaged
from the house, the renovation began. Trumbull-
Nelson, collaborating with a handful of
subcontractors, refurbished what was old and
replaced everything else, from the new standing seam
roof (installed by HP roofing of White river
Junction) to the new septic system (installed by D.R.
Key Corporation of Lebanon).
"we did everything we could to ensure the property
retained its place in time and history."
Inside the house, Trumbull-Nelson workers tore down
a wall between the original house and an addition
that came later, and they also removed a narrow
stairway to the second floor (built-in custom
cabinets now occupy the space). They stripped and
painted the original plaster walls in the front
rooms and milled all of the new trim to match the
old.
The first floor of the addition, formerly a warren
of small rooms, was opened into a 25-by-15 foot
kitchen. The Trumbull-Nelson team also cleared space
for, and constructed, two and a half bathrooms
(there had been only one bathroom in the old house).
Blodgett's Sash and Door of Lebanon installed new
appliances and classic cabinetry and fixtures in
both the kitchen and bathrooms. They also provided
the new (yet traditional-looking) 12-over-12 and
8-over-8 foot pane windows and made new four-panel
doors to replace those that couldn't be saved.
"it's a classic house. It would have been a crime to
tear it down." - Ed Kerrigan
Despite the fact that the front foundation isn't
accessible and that there is only a small crawl
space beneath the house, Partridge Family Heating of
Canaan employed creative ductwork en route to
successfully installing new plumbing and
state-of-the-art heating and A/C.
The result of all this work, which began with
Kerrigan and Clarkson's vision, is a beautiful old
post-and-beam house made new and filled with modern
amenities to make for comfortable living. The first
floor of the house includes a living room, dining
room, kitchen, and family room; the second floor
features a master bedroom suite plus three bedrooms.
Adjacent to the house is an old barn newly converted
into a two-car garage, and an old garage that will
soon be converted into a workshop and/or storage
place.
"We did everything we could to ensure the property
retained its place in time and history," said
Clarkson, "right down to the doorbell (a mechanical
pull that rings a small bell) and the hidden
cabinets built above the fireplace in the living
room."
Step Back 150 Years
The Kerrigan and Clarkson house on Riverside Drive
was built in what was known as East Lebanon before
textile mills had made downtown Lebanon a business
center. Riverside Drive was of the Fourth New
Hampshire Turnpike that ran from the Connecticut
River in West Lebanon to the Merrimack River north
of Concord. Soon after the house was erected in the
1830s, the Northern Railroad was built, connecting
Concord and Lebanon. Today, the rail bed is part the
Northern Rail Trail, one of the region's most
popular recreational resources.
An excerpt from an old Lebanon Historical Society
annual report states that the Kerrigan and Clarkson
house "is one of the few houses in the area to
which, rightly or wrongly, the legend attaches
itself (of the house) being a station on Underground
Railroad during the Civil War. It was said to have
had a hidden room under the lawn entered from the
cellar behind some shelving in which fugitive slave
hid." (A recent inspection of the old stone
foundation, however, revealed no sign of the
opening.)
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